Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Is James Gunn’s “Most Emotional” Movie

“Instead of saying all your goodbyes, let them know you realize that life goes fast,” The Flaming Lips sing in “Do You Realize??,” the song that plays over the Comic-Con trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. “It’s hard to make the good things last.” In May 2023, it’s time to face the music: Vol. 3 will be the last time moviegoers see the team of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Groot (Vin Diesel), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and the missing Gamora (Zoe Saldana). 

After the cast assembled on stage at San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H to reveal the first footage from Vol. 3 with director James Gunn, the actors told Yahoo! they were moved to tears watching the “emotional” teaser trailer with the Comic-Con crowd.

“It’s such an emotional, beautiful trailer, and it’s such a beautiful story. And it’s also the end of an era for us. And so, it’s so emotional. And then they, like, threw us on stage,” Gillan said with a laugh. “And we were, like, fully crying. And then everyone in the room is crying — it was a really emotional experience.” 

Klementieff echoed those comments, calling Gunn’s script “incredible.”

“I’m so grateful for James, for writing this beautiful, beautiful script,” she said. “I feel so, so lucky, to get to work with these incredible actors and to care so deeply about them in real life. And I care so much about the characters, as well. I saw the teaser trailer for the first time … I can’t get over it, and I want to watch it again (laughs).” 

Screened exclusively for Comic-Con attendees, the trailer showed the team’s search for Gamora, who died in Avengers: Infinity War but returned in Avengers: Endgame when her past self time-traveled from 2014. This Gamora doesn’t remember Peter Quill — mistakingly calling him “Quinn” — and is now part of a crew of Ravagers. The footage also showed Baby Rocket and the first look at the all-gold Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). 

“I’m not prepared for it. I gotta tell you, I wasn’t ready for that,” Poulter said. “But I think this will be the most emotional Guardians, yeah, for sure.” 

Asked if Vol. 3 felt like an “abnormally emotional” MCU movie on set, Sean Gunn answered, “I felt it. I kind of felt it from the beginning. We spent a lot of months making this movie. And there was always something about it that was like it felt a little different. There’s a sadness in the movie. And there’s an element to it that is the culmination of this storytelling trilogy that I’m very, very proud of. I think it’s truthful — which is the most important thing — and that audiences, hopefully, will respond to [it].” 

“It’s about the emotions. It’s about the characters, and their journeys, and how they’re uncovering truths about themselves,” James Gunn teased. “And it’s not what people expect. Nothing is neat. Nothing’s tied up with a bow, but it is the end of the story for these characters.”

Added Gillan: “It definitely feels like the end of this particular era … there’s definitely a finality to the whole thing.” 

Starring Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Spacedog, Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, Vin Diesel as Groot, and Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens in theaters on May 5, 2023.